9th Nov 2017 | Coding, Consultancy, GDPR, Security and Safety
Here are 7 GDPR myths (General Data Protection Regulation) or ’new Data Protection Act’. We hope this is of some help:
1) It only applies to computers. No, it all applies to all records containing personal data, including those stored on scraps of paper and written in quill pen.
2) You can buy a piece of software that will make you compliant. No! It is more about you knowing how you hold and process data and how you have other people hold and process your data. In other words, it is about you having policies.
For instance,
- How long do you retain a client’s information after they become an ex-client?
- How do you ensure that data is fully deleted if a client requests it?
- How do you gather data together is a client requests a portable, electronic copy of the data you hold on them? (and they are entitled to this.)
- and many more.
3) It will cease to apply after we leave the EU. Wrong! we are committed to upholding the GDPR after we leave.
4) It only applies to large companies. Wrong! It applied to all companies.
5) It only applies to the ‘owner’ of the data. No! This regulation applies to data processors as well.
6) You can continue to direct market to your potential customers. Do you have their informed permission? Was it given within a reasonable time?
7) If your company holds Cyber Essentials Plus certification you are covered. No! Read all the above again.
Here are the promised truths.
Yes, the top fine is €20M or 4% of global annual turnover, whichever is greater!
Yes, you do have to report all data breaches within 72 hours.
We are running a masterclass on Wednesday 22nd November. This will help you sort out the fact from the fiction.
https://bit.ly/GDPR-MC
See you at the masterclass to get it all sorted.
John
6th Nov 2017 | Business Directory, Coding
Our latest project has been something of a challenge.
A branded website…
That is also a business directory…
That also has local business and community events…
Oh, and can you give it the capability to be bi-lingual.
We need it in less than a month.
So, how did we do that?
Well we base all our websites on WordPress – this gives us a very stable base to build upon. It also means that (unlike bespoke coding) security concerns can be addressed quickly. Developers of extensions have millions of users demanding the security updates!
We have built that with business directory, calendaring and translation using tried and tested tools. We have used local talent for the branding and design and yes, it is even mobile friendly, good for search engines and is already well embedded in the Google index!
Bet you are wanting to see it now! It is at https://cmb.wales
Already lots of businesses have signed up. Community calendar events are free!
Cudos to Diana and the team at Ailgynnau consulting for commissioning us for this project.
There is still work to be done, as not all the Welsh translations are in, but when they are we can apply them to the website.
Next!
30th Oct 2017 | Email, GDPR
How do you know if your messaging solution is fit for the 21st century and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)? If for no other reason than the potential fines, compliance matters.
Historically, email systems just did email and that was good enough. With the new regulations there is significant onus on the owners and processors of data to ensure that it is only used properly and that it is not leaked. Traditional email systems, such as those based around web servers, typically do not cut the mustard. They send out emails with no guarantee that they came from a legitimate sender and can be read by anyone. Perfect for scammers and data leaks.
For information about how Microsoft is hardening its email solutions, check out this link: https://aka.ms/ome2017 on message encryption. A way to ensure that those who are supposed to read your emails can, and those who shouldn’t can’t!
Of course, within any system the weakest link in security is the users. Here is a link to our GDPR master class https://bit.ly/GDPR-MC. In the master class you will find out about many of the requirements of the GDPR and how they will affect your organisation.
Finally, as a Microsoft Cloud Partner, we are able to offer Office 365 solutions to help keep you protected now and in the future.
26th Oct 2017 | Consultancy, GDPR, Salesforce, Security and Safety
GDPR Masterclass
Led by Chris Roberts of the GDPR Alliance.
Is your business ready for the new data protection regulations?
On May 25th 2018, less than a year away, the European Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) comes into force. This represents the most significant change to data privacy regulations for more than 20 years. With significant non-compliance penalties including financial ones of up to 4% of global revenue or €20m, it is essential that business owners understand what is coming, the potential impact it will have, and what actions are needed to ensure compliance.
Is your organisation going to be affected by GDPR?
The vast majority of businesses will hold what the regulation describes as “personal data” on an EU citizen so will need to be compliant with the regulations.
What is personal data?
Phone numbers, email addresses, home addresses, bank details, demographics, health information, sexual orientation, in fact anything that could identify a specific person.
What’s covered during the workshop?
- Why this legislation has come in to being
- The key points of the new legislation
- Likely causes of non-compliance
- Risks and penalties: what changes will you need to make?
- What actions should you consider to reduce risk
- What are implications of non-compliance?
Workshop leader
Chris Roberts a Director at Highend Software and a Co-founder of the GDPR Alliance leads these workshops. Chris regularly presents on business efficiency and productivity improvements and GDPR. Recent presentations include those for the Federation for Small Business (FSB), Superfast Business Wales, Wales Fraud Forum, BNI and numerous private clients.
Venue
The class will start at 9:00am for a 9:30am start in the Conference Room at the prestigious Beacon Centre for Enterprise in Dafen, Llanelli, SA14 8LQ.
Tickets are on sale through our ticketing portal https://bit.ly/GDPR-MC. Book early for deep discounts.
16th Oct 2017 | Consultancy, Salesforce, Security and Safety
On 5th October, I was giving a talk to a Novus Networking in Cardiff. The topic was the GDPR. Not the most exciting topic for a group of under 35s, but there you go.
At its heart the GDPR is about protecting our privacy. As the prominent privacy campaigner, Julian Assuange said, to those who doubt our need for privacy: “There is no killer answer yet. Jacob Appelbaum (@ioerror) has a clever response, asking people who say this to then hand him their phone unlocked and pull down their pants.”
Of course we know of cases where governments want backdoors into our phone security and airports have x-ray systems that reveal our unclothed bodies.
There are many great materials out there. In the next month, Cloud Genius is hoping to be running some courses on the GPRS in Llanelli. As a starter, there is an introduction (for free) on trailhead.salesforce.com
The provisional date of our masterclass will be Wednesday 22 November. It promises to be full of useful information that will help you remain compliant.
(The fines for non-compliance are up to €20M or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is greater.)
3rd Jan 2017 | General Information
Does this picture of a pair of shoes hanging on a telephone cable mean anything to you?
To some cultures, shoes are thrown over power lines to commemorate the end of a school year.
What do you think it means when your blog isn’t updated for long periods of time?
So here, in ascending order are 4 reasons why you should keep your blog up-to-date.
Let people know that you’re still alive
How many times have you gone to a website of a company that provides a service that you’re interested in, only to find that their blog hasn’t been updated for eight months. What does that tell you about the company? Are they still in business? Do they keep in touch with their customer base?
Making sure that your blog is updated regularly is a really good way of showing potential customers that you’re still around.
Keep everyone up to date
A blog is a great way to keep your clients and potential customers updated on anything that happens with the site or with the business in general, such as if the site is going to be down for refurbishment or, if your organisation is moving. If your website sells products or a service, updating your blog can also be a great way of letting everyone know about any deals, new stock or limited time offers.
The ideal place for sharing tips
Sometimes, you might hit a dry spell where nothing new will happen with your website or your business. Maintaining a blog while there’s nothing interesting going on can be extremely difficult, but the great thing about a blog is that you can put anything on there as long as it has something to do with what your business does.
Many companies that have a blog use it as a way of sharing helpful hints and tips and any news that they may find interesting and is worth sharing, (a bit like this one actually).
Most importantly… it improves your ranking on Google FOR FREE!!!!
Every time you update your website with a blog article it should (if set up properly) nudge Google and say, ‘I’ve just been updated’. Google loves relevant, up-to-date content. A quick blog here and there can do the equivalent of spending £1000’s on Google Adwords. Save yourself money AND get top ranking.
Make this your New Year’s Resolution and make sure that your blog stays up to date!
31st Oct 2016 | General Information
We were just having a few thoughts about the presidential election in the United States. Our sympathies are with our transatlantic brothers and sisters. Below is a little video that summarises our thoughts.
8th Oct 2016 | General Information
Why is Salesforce Charities such a good fit? We are in the process of bringing on some more charities and non profit organisations.
For a start, as a charity you not only get Salesforce, but Salesforce provide lots of customisations that help you carry out your work as a charity. So, you need to track donations… sorted. You want to look at ‘soft donations’ where you take into account the giving of a household, rather than an individual… it’s there. Along with memberships, customisations to help you keep track of people rather than the need of businesses, where they tend to keep track of other businesses.
Of course, you have the massive backing of Salesforce.org. This gives you 10 licences for Salesforce (at the Enterprise level) to use in perpetuity for free. The Non Profit Starter Pack, the customisations that help you track households, memberships and so-on. All free. All you need to do is get the system set-up and configured for your own staff. (That’s where we come in – we will listen to your needs, configure the system, train users in its use and support you in your Salesforce journey.)
One of our clients is using their website to take appointment bookings for refugees in order to gift them bikes. The charity sends the appointment to the refugee by email or text. All this is automated, tracked and managed in Salesforce. We set up that customisation.
We have also taken on a new member of staff, Aaron Williams.
We are registering for VAT, supporting the new Salesforce in Wales user group.
How do we manage to do so much? We have Salesforce managing everything from initial contact, through opportunities, via project management, through to support and billing… leaving us to do the things we enjoy!
15th Aug 2016 | General Information
One of the internet’s terrifying statistics is that in 2014 72% of emails were spam. (Source statistica.com)
In other words, nearly three quarters of emails sent were rubbish.
In 2016, it is down to about 55%, but it is still too high.
THIS IS TO BE REDUCED STILL FURTHER, BUT IT MIGHT AFFECT YOUR EMAILS – THEY MAY NEVER ARRIVE.
Big email providers, such as Google and Microsoft have been working hard to reduce this still further. To this end, they have been introducing several standards (SPF, DKIM & DMARC).
Some of them have been widely implemented for a number of year (e.g. SPF)
But with the coming of DMARC, you may find that your emails do not get to their intended recipients.
You need to be using an email provider that supports these modern standards. That is why we recommend Office 365. It supports all these standards and will continue to work into the foreseeable future.
Many low cost solutions may fail.
You will not be aware that your emails are not getting through until you phone the recipients.
If you need more information, contact us!
28th Jul 2016 | Consultancy, e-Commerce, General Information, Security and Safety, Web Hosting, Websites, WordPress
How g
reat would it be if you could take credit card payments directly from you website.
It’s not as if you have an online store, but there are just one or two services that you would like to charge for. You could use PayPal, but their fees are 3.4%.
Stripe is a really good credit card processor. (After all, even billion-dollar businesses like Salesforce use them.)
Their fees are as low as 1.4% + 20p per transaction at the basic level. Much cheaper than PayPal.
The downside is that they require a website that meets the standards of TLS 1.2.
Ours do.
We can set you up with a secure website.
If you use our Safe and Secure website service, we will ensure that it meets the security standards of the future.
(BTW we do full e-Commerce websites, too.)
